A thin card reader (TCR) designed to reduce card-not-present fraud, in credit card transactions, and other applications where security verification is needed in remote locations. The TCR is powered by external RF power, or through a battery. Further, the TCR uses energy from an energy harvester, which converts the mechanism energy used to insert the credit card into the TCR. Energy harvesting allows the TCR to be a self-powered device, alleviating the need to charge the TCR or connect a cable thereto. TCR shifts the burden of the electronics from the card to the TCR, reducing the cost of credit cards with a biometric sensor. One TCR can be used per consumer (with many cards), reducing costs and resulting in substantial savings. The TCR also allows remote enrollment of biometrically enabled credit cards where the new card can be entered into a TCR when placed in a self-enrollment mode.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A thin card reader, comprising: a rectangular housing having a top section connected to a bottom section, the housing having a first end with a slot extending therethrough and into the housing; a power source in the bottom section of the housing; a plurality of piezoelectric bimorph springs extending from the power source toward the first end of the housing; a hard stop barrier between at least two of the plurality of piezoelectric bimorph springs; wherein the plurality of piezoelectric bimorph springs are movable between an uncompressed state, a first distance from the first end of the housing, and a compressed state, a second distance from the first end of the housing; wherein the second distance is between the first end of the housing and the hard stop barrier; an electronics board connected to the top section of the housing and electrically connected to the power source; wherein the electronics board is configured to transmit and receive a wireless protocol; one or more electrodes connected to the top section of the housing; and wherein power consumption by the electronics board is substantially similar to energy generated when moving the plurality of piezoelectric bimorph springs from the uncompressed state to the compressed state.
2. The thin card reader of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a length which is approximately 10 cm.
3. The thin card reader of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a depth which is less than or equal to 3 mm.
4. The thin card reader of claim 1 , wherein the top section of the housing comprises a biometric sensor.
5. The thin card reader of claim 1 , wherein the slot is configured to receive a credit card.
6. The thin card reader of claim 5 , wherein the credit card comprises an EMV chip with an electrode pad, which is configured to transmit card data to the electronics board when the electrode pad contact the electrodes of the top section.
7. The thin card reader of claim 1 , wherein the electronics board includes a radio frequency coil configured to transmit data via radio frequency communication.
8. A thin card reader, comprising: a housing having a top cover plate connected to a bottom cover plate, the housing having a first end with a slot extending therethrough and into the housing; a piezoelectric bimorph layer extending from a second end of the housing between the top cover plate and the bottom cover plate; a first spacer between the top cover plate and the piezoelectric bimorph layer at the second end of the housing; a second spacer between the bottom cover plate and the piezoelectric bimorph layer at the second end of the housing; a spacer rod connected to the first spacer and a spring connected to the first spacer and extending along the spacer rod; a spacer connected to the spring, the spacer movable along the spacer rod, the spacer movable between an uncompressed state and a compressed state; and wherein in the compressed state, the piezoelectric bimorph layer bends downward toward the bottom cover plate, generating a charge stored in an electronics board at the bottom cover plate; and wherein power consumption by the electronics board is substantially similar to energy corresponding to the charge generated when moving the spacer from the uncompressed state to the compressed state.
9. The thin card reader of claim 8 , wherein the electronics board is configured to transmit and receive a wireless protocol.
10. The thin card reader of claim 9 , wherein the wireless protocol is NFC (Near Field Communications).
11. The thin card reader of claim 9 , wherein the wireless protocol is Bluetooth radio frequency (RF) link.
12. The thin card reader of claim 8 , wherein the slot is configured to receive a credit card.
13. The thin card reader of claim 12 , wherein the electronics board is configured to retrieve card data from an EMV chip from the credit card.
14. The thin card reader of claim 13 , wherein the electronics board is configured to transmit the card data via a wireless protocol.
15. The thin card reader of claim 12 , wherein the credit card comprises a biometric sensor.
16. The thin card reader of claim 15 , wherein the electronics board is configured to retrieve biometric sensor data from the biometric sensor.
17. The thin card reader of claim 16 , wherein the electronics board is configured to transmit the biometric sensor data via a wireless protocol.
18. The thin card reader of claim 16 , wherein the electronics board is configured to encrypt the biometric sensor data.
19. The thin card reader of claim 12 , wherein the electronics board activates an enrollment mode representing a new credit card when the credit card has not been initialized.
20. A thin card reader, comprising: a housing having a top cover plate connected to a bottom cover plate, the housing having a first end with a slot extending therethrough and into the housing; wherein the slot is configured to receive a credit card; a piezoelectric bimorph layer extending from a second end of the housing between the top cover plate and the bottom cover plate; a first spacer between the top cover plate and the piezoelectric bimorph layer at the second end of the housing; a second spacer between the bottom cover plate and the piezoelectric bimorph layer at the second end of the housing; a spacer rod connected to the first spacer and a spring connected to the first spacer and extending along the spacer rod; a spacer connected to the spring, the spacer movable along the spacer rod, the spacer movable between an uncompressed state and a compressed state; wherein in the compressed state, the piezoelectric bimorph layer bends downward toward the bottom cover plate, generating a charge stored in an electronics board at the bottom cover plate; and wherein the electronics board activates an enrollment mode representing a new credit card when the credit card has not been initialized.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
March 12, 2019
October 20, 2020
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